State Constitutional Law and History

Course Description

Prerequisite: Constitutional Rights

This course explores the American constitutional tradition from a perspective that will reconceptualize standard assumptions about constitutionalism. Those standard assumptions entail views about American constitutional law and history that have been shaped by a predominant focus on the federal constitution. As a consequence of that focus, the significance of state constitutionalism and its history, as well as the interplay between state and federal constitutions, has not been fully appreciated. The course uncovers a new richness in constitutional law, theory, and history by focusing on the vibrant pattern of constitution-making in the states before and after the federal effort in 1787. We will then apply that learning to a series of contemporary issues in state constitutional law, with particular emphasis on the New Mexico constitution.